Well, majority of men here in Russia probably don't have a chance to become "cantankerous", since average male life expectancy is at 60 to 62, 12 years less then women (72-74). It is the women who get "cantankerous" here. Lose their husbands early, at, say 60. A man who is sixty years old can find himself a younger woman. But no man would want a sixty year old woman, especially a younger man. So, they are to spend their remaining years alone, or on the bench with other 'babushki'
They are useful for police though. All they do all day is spy on their neighbors and gossip
Babushki know everything about everybody...